


Duck, Duck, Goose

by Java_bean



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Ambassador Sokka (Avatar), Birds, Established Relationship, Fire Nation (Avatar), Firelord Zuko (Avatar), Fluff, M/M, Sokka is a very anti bird person, Turtleduck(s), Zuko on the other hand IS a bird person, how many times can two boys say I love you in one conversation?, read to find out, this is kinda silly ngl
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-29
Updated: 2020-11-29
Packaged: 2021-03-10 02:34:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,481
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27786805
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Java_bean/pseuds/Java_bean
Summary: "So, you don't like tea but youdolike apricot daifuku. Anything else I should know about?""Hmmm." Sokka stroked his chin thoughtfully, looking up at the canopy of leaves above them. Something up there ruffled the leaves, followed by a familiar chirping sound. He frowned up at whatever was up there. "I don't like birds."Zuko pulled away, causing Sokka to fall forward. "You don't likebirds?"
Relationships: Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 20
Kudos: 229
Collections: A:tla





	Duck, Duck, Goose

**Author's Note:**

> I saw a [post ](https://soft-zuko.tumblr.com/post/636057318665142272/thats-why-he-hates-birds)about Sokka hating birds and this popped into my head and I thought it was cute. Anyway I hope you like reading it! <3 
> 
> (title is from the children's game duck, duck, goose which I thought was appropriate given the fic is about birds kinda)

Zuko was late. He had requested Sokka meet him at the turtle duck pond a little after lunch so they could finally have some time alone together. Sokka knew better than anyone how busy Zuko's schedule was -he was the one that actually _arranged_ the schedule half the time- so he was used to waiting. He really didn't mind all that much. 

It helped that the weather was beautiful out, usually Sokka was left sweltering in the awful heat. Today, though, it was balmy. There had been a storm the night before, and the rain helped cool down the air to something that could be classified as livable, in Sokka's opinion. Being under the shade of the big cherry tree made the waiting all that much more comfortable. He leaned back against the rough bark and sighed contentedly, closing his eyes.

"You're not falling asleep on me, are you?" 

Sokka shot up immediately, cracking a big grin. "Hey, Jerklord! Took you long enough." 

"Sorry." Zuko said, not sounding sorry at all. He was standing over Sokka, his hands full with a teapot and a tray of cups and assorted little snacks. How could he be carrying so much stuff and _still_ sneak up on him so easily? "I was talking to Uncle and lost track of time." 

"I didn't know your uncle was visiting." Sokka shuffled himself a bit out of the way, so there was enough room in the shade for Zuko to sit. He took him up on the offer immediately, careful to keep the tray balanced as he did. "Hey, you're smiling!" 

Sokka prodded at Zuko's cheek softly with his finger until Zuko slapped his hand away. The look he got for that was nothing short of fond annoyance. 

"Yeah," Zuko started pouring the tea and handed a cup to Sokka, "it's not every day two of my favorite people visit. I'm tempted to cancel all my meetings just to spend time with you and Uncle until you leave." 

It was a sweet thought, but they both knew it wouldn't happen. Zuko wasn't the type to break an engagement unless he was forced to and Sokka wouldn't be happy to have his meticulously planned out schedule ignored. No, what they were doing right now was probably the closest Zuko would ever get to an impromptu vacation anytime soon.

Sokka swirled the contents of his teacup, watching the light green liquid slosh around inside. As sure as he was that it would taste good, he didn't drink it. It was nice out, but still far too hot to enjoy a cup of still steaming tea. Zuko, and the rest of the Fire Nation, apparently, did not share this opinion. 

"You know, I think you bring tea every time we meet up." Sokka pointed out, watching Zuko sip from his own cup. 

That sweet smile slipped off Zuko's face, and his brow furrowed. "I thought you liked tea."

"I don't _hate_ it." Sokka admitted, shrugging. He took a sip and tried not to burn his tongue to prove his point. "I don't think I like it as much as you, though." 

"It'll grow on you." 

"Believable, coming from Teafu Hotman himself." Sokka rolled his eyes.

Zuko said nothing for a moment. Sokka took the opportunity to study Zuko's face. He was staring down at his teacup, eyes wide and expression blank. Sokka tried not to laugh, it was far from the first time he'd said something that threw Zuko off. He knew he'd come back to himself eventually. 

As if on cue, Zuko groaned and covered his face with his free hand. " _Teafu?_ "

"It's a good nickname." Sokka replied, holding up his teacup in a mock toast. "You're welcome." 

Zuko peeked at him from between his fingers. "You're terrible." 

"You're in love with me." 

"You're right." Zuko's hand dropped back down to his lap. "I didn't like tea for a really long time, myself." 

"Really?" Sokka raised an eyebrow. For as long as Sokka had known him, preparing tea was one of Zuko's favorite hobbies. He drank it so often that Sokka wondered sometimes in his more sleep deprived state if he had jasmine tea running through his veins instead of blood. "That doesn't sound true."

"It is." Zuko nodded. "I actually hated it for a really long time. It wasn't until after I joined you guys that I started liking it." 

"Huh." That was nearly two years ago now. "So what changed?" 

Zuko shrugged. "Mostly I just missed my uncle. You know him, he loves tea. It made me feel closer to him while we were apart. Now, unfortunately, I like the taste."

Sokka snorted. "Unfortunately?" 

"Uncle keeps bragging about wearing me down." Zuko grumbled, leaning heavily against the trunk of the tree. "I spent three years yelling at him about how much I didn't like tea and I didn't want any and _now_ it's the only thing I drink." 

"You hypocrite." Sokka laughed, taking another sip of his own tea. It had cooled down enough to be actually drinkable.

"I _know._ " Zuko ran his hand through his hair. "Anyway, my point is that I think I can wear you down on this, too." 

"I'm sure you can." He agreed, leaning against Zuko's side. Zuko didn't seem to mind. When he lowered his hand from his head, his arm snaked around Sokka's back and pulled him just a bit closer. 

Zuko put down his cup of tea and plucked a piece of daifuku off the tray between them, offering it up to Sokka. Sokka ate it right out of his hand and smiled both at the sweet taste and the way Zuko's eyes widened in surprise at the action. 

"Even if I don't like tea all that much," Sokka commented as he swallowed, "the snacks are always a plus." 

"Yeah?" Zuko smiled, picking one up for himself and biting into it. He looked almost thoughtful as he chewed. "Apricot." 

"Not a fan of apricot?" Sokka asked, reaching between them and grabbing another piece for himself. 

Zuko shook his head. "Apricot's good. Just surprising." 

"Well, I like it." Sokka popped the piece into his mouth and put his head on Zuko's shoulder. "I think these might be my favorite so far."

"Noted." Zuko nodded, matching the way that Sokka leaned against him. Zuko was heavy, and warm, and Sokka wondered how he wasn't sweating to death under all those robes he was forced to wear as Fire Lord. "So, you don't like tea but you _do_ like apricot daifuku. Anything else I should know about?"

"Hmmm." Sokka stroked his chin thoughtfully, looking up at the canopy of leaves above them. Something up there ruffled the leaves, followed by a familiar chirping sound. He frowned up at whatever was up there. "I don't like birds." 

Zuko pulled away, causing Sokka to fall forward. "You don't like _birds?_ " 

"No, I don't." He shook his head and turned so he was sitting facing Zuko, propping his head up with his hand. "Is that a problem?" 

"No." Zuko denied immediately, shaking his head. "Of course not. But... _all_ birds?" 

"Well, no, not _all_ birds." He admitted. "There's probably been a couple good ones out there. The otter penguins back home weren't bad. I used to sled on them when I was little." 

"You used to sled? On birds?" Every word out of Sokka's mouth was making Zuko look more and more confused. Sokka couldn't help but grin.

"Yeah. Aang knocked you over while riding one, remember?" Sokka laughed. "The first time you were at the South Pole?" 

Zuko looked like he was going to deny it, but then he closed his mouth. His face colored bright red, almost matching his scar. "I remember that."

"Yeah," Sokka chuckled, reaching over for another piece of daifuku, "those were good birds. All other birds, though? Not a fan." 

"What about..." Zuko worked his bottom lip between his teeth as he wracked his brain for a type of bird. Sokka watched him with rapt attention, Zuko was cute and fun to watch when he was lost in thought. "Ostrich horses?"

"Ostrich horses, huh?" 

Zuko was watching Sokka with a wide, interested eye as he waited for Sokka to answer. With all the attention on him, Sokka felt his face heat up and he had to focus his own attention elsewhere so he could pretend he _wasn't_ blushing so obviously. 

"You know, I don't think I've actually seen an ostrich horse before." He admitted. Back in the day when he was wandering around the Earth Kingdom, they'd mostly been riding around on Appa. When they didn't have Appa, they didn't have enough money to afford an ostrich horse or anything else, so most of the traveling was on foot. 

"Really?" 

"Yup." 

"You know," Zuko hid his still slightly red face behind his teacup as he drank, "I stole an ostrich horse once." 

"You did _not!_ " Sokka gasped, smacking Zuko lightly in the chest. 

"I _did._ " Zuko replied, batting his hand away and smiling sheepishly. "I feel bad about it now, but at the time I was just glad I didn't have to walk everywhere anymore. I bought a new one for the girl I stole it from and she yelled at me about it, but she accepted it and I think she forgave me? I'm not sure. I really liked that ostrich horse, though."

"Okay." Sokka nodded. "I'm willing to be neutral about ostrich horses. Just because I've never met one, but I do trust your judgement."

"Thank you." 

"Those aren't really the category of birds I hate, anyway."

Zuko's brow furrowed, and his smile was crooked as he looked back at Sokka. He clearly thought something was funny about this, but he still wanted an explanation. "There are _categories?_ "

"Zuko," Sokka sighed, clasping his hands together, "there are _always_ categories. We've been dating for so long, I'm almost disappointed you didn't know that already." 

"Of course." Zuko snorted, rolling his eyes. "How could I forget? Go on, tell me your bird hating categories." 

He poured himself another cup of tea and sat back, gesturing with a wave of his hand for Sokka to continue. 

"There are three kinds of birds." Sokka explained, leaning back comfortably beside Zuko. His bare shoulder dug into the bark of the tree, but he didn't mind. "Birds you can ride, birds you can eat, and all the other ones. Obviously, I love meat so my favorite birds are the ones you can eat. The ones you can _ride_ I'm neutral on. I like the otter penguins back home, but some of them are mean. I've never met an ostrich horse, either, so I can't pass judgement on them at all. Now as for all the other birds, well, those are the ones I hate." 

"So most birds." 

Sokka nodded. "Most birds." 

Zuko tilted his head. "Why?" 

He shrugged. "I've been attacked by birds before. It happened enough that I hate them now." 

Zuko frowned and sipped at his tea. "I guess that's understandable."

"You seem kind of hung up on this whole me hating birds thing," Sokka pointed out, "are you _sure_ it's not a problem?"

"Of course it's not a problem." Zuko reiterated, shaking his head as he reached for another piece of daifuku. "It was just surpri- oh, hello there."

Sokka pulled his eyes away from Zuko and followed his gaze down to the tray of snacks between them. Beside the daifuku was a fuzzy little yellow head that looked up at Zuko with big black eyes. It also had a dark green shell. A turtle duck. Sokka noticed that the piece of daifuku closest to it had bits nibbled off it, most likely from the little animal's bill. 

"You're not supposed to eat these." Zuko softly scolded, picking up the piece of daifuku and inspecting it in his hand. "But I won't tell if you don't. Here, you can have half." 

Zuko bit into the untouched half of the daifuku, splitting it apart. The filling oozed out as Zuko dropped it into his lap, most likely staining his robes. Zuko didn't seem to care, gesturing for the turtle duck to come closer. The turtle duck itself didn't need too much prompting, apparently not afraid of Zuko at all if there was a snack on the line. It waddled up to him and quacked at his knee. 

Zuko smiled, and it was warm and sweet and melted Sokka's heart so much he had no choice but continue to stare lovingly at his boyfriend. Zuko gently scooped the turtle duck up in his hand and placed it in his lap. The little bird nibbled at the daifuku and didn't even acknowledge Zuko rubbing its head softly with his finger. 

"So," Sokka said quietly, not wanting to interrupt the scene too much, "there _was_ a reason you were hung up on the whole me hating birds thing."

"Okay." Zuko sighed, moving his hand away from the bird's head and towards the shell, stroking it gently. "You caught me. But seriously, it's not a problem. You don't like birds, it's not a big deal." 

"You never asked me how I felt about turtle ducks." 

Zuko ducked his head, his face reddening again. "I was worried you'd say you hate them." 

"What do _you_ think of them?" 

"I love them." Zuko admitted easily, his gaze soft as he looked down at the turtle duck in his lap. "They're my favorite. What do _you_ think of them?"

"I love you." 

Zuko blushed bright red, almost matching his robes. "I love you, too. But that's not what I asked." 

Sokka shrugged. "You love them, and I love you. How could I hate anything you love?" 

Sokka was pulled against Zuko before he could even react, mouth crashing into his. Sokka sunk into the kiss easily, tasting the tea and the apricot on Zuko's tongue, accompanied by that sweet, almost cinnamon taste that was just _him_. The kiss ended before it could get very far, coming to a close by the indignant quack of the turtle duck getting squished between them. 

Zuko groaned and leaned his head against Sokka's shoulder, burying his face in his neck. Sokka laughed and wrapped an arm around him, but didn't pull him any closer to appease the angry little turtle duck in his boyfriend's lap. Sokka reached a finger out to it to pet it. The little bird nipped at his finger. 

"Sokka?" Zuko mumbled. Sokka could feel his lips move against his throat. 

"Yeah?" The turtle duck was almost glaring up at him, but it let him stroke its head, anyway. It was even softer than it looked. 

"I love you." 

The turtle duck wasn't the only thing that was softer than it looked. Sokka kissed Zuko's head, burying his face in his hair. 

"I love you, too, Teafu Turtle duck."

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! I hope you liked it <3


End file.
